Shonda Rhimes sells new show to ABC

Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes has sold a new project to ABC and its unlike any series she’s done before.

For starters, it’s set in 1895. The drama is called Gilded Lillys and it’s by writer K.J. Steinberg (creator The Nine a writer on Gossip Girl). The story is about the fictitious “first true luxury hotel ever built in the city — the family who owns it, the staff who work it, and the people who pass through.”

Gilded Lillys is just a script sale at this point, though any Rhimes production at ABC has a better-than-average chance of making it on the air. It follows up on a trend toward doing shows set in the past, with NBC’s Playboy Club and ABC’s Pan Am set to air this fall (and how well those shows perform could impact the odds of the network moving forward with other ideas like Lillys).

Rhimes will executive produce the ABC Studios production along with frequent collaborator Betsy Beers. Rhimes also, of course, has her new ABC political drama Scandal coming in midseason.